Question Period Note: CANADA-NEWFOUNDLAND BROADBAND PARTNERSHIP

What are the details of the Canada-Newfoundland broadband partnership announced on February 21, 2022?

• High-speed Internet access is essential for all Canadians. That is why the Government of Canada has made billions of dollars available for rural and remote Internet infrastructure – including $3.225 billion under the Universal Broadband Fund.

• The government is proud to collaborate with Newfoundland and Labrador to invest up to $136 million to provide high-speed Internet access to all underserved households in the province.

• The government is committed to providing access to 98% of Canadians by 2026. This can only be achieved through partnerships with other levels of government, the private sector, Indigenous groups, and other stakeholders.

• The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador broadband partnership announced on February 21, 2022, will provide high-speed Internet access to approximately 60,000 households in Newfoundland and Labrador that do not currently have access to 50/10 Mbps Internet service. Projects selected under this agreement have begun to be announced and can be viewed on the UBF website as they are announced.
• The Government of Canada is working hard with all provinces and territories to ensure that projects are announced across the country in the coming months.

• To date, the Universal Broadband Fund has announced more than $2 billion in funding to provide access to more than 900,000 households and more announcements are coming soon.

The $3.225 billion Universal Broadband Fund (UBF) will help ensure that 98% of Canadians will have access to high-speed Internet by 2026, and 100% by 2030. The UBF includes a Rapid Response Stream for shovel-ready projects that can be completed quickly, $50 million for mobile projects that primarily benefit Indigenous peoples, and $750 million for large, high-impact projects.
In addition to Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), the Government of Canada has announced other federal-provincial broadband partnerships with Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island.
The Government of Canada’s funding of $116 million for the Canada-NL broadband partnership comes from the Universal Broadband Fund, and $20 million comes from Newfoundland and Labrador.
Under the Rapid Response Stream (RRS) of the UBF, $3.3 million in UBF funding has been announced to cover over 4,000 households in Newfoundland and Labrador with improved Internet access.
Across all Government of Canada broadband programs since 2015, over $146 million in funding has been announced for connectivity projects in Newfoundland and Labrador.